Tri-axis closed-loop anti-shake structure

ABSTRACT

Provided is a lens driving device includes a lens holder for carrying a lens; a frame for receiving the lens holder; a first driving component for driving the lens holder to move along a first direction in respect to the frame; a base moveably connected to the frame; a second driving component for driving the frame to move along a second direction in respect to the base, and a position sensor disposed on the frame for sensing a change in a position of the lens holder along the first direction in respect to the frame, wherein the first direction is not parallel to the second direction.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional Application of U.S. application Ser.No. 14/712,056 filed on May 14, 2015, and claims priority under 35U.S.C. 119(e) to Taiwan Application Serial No. 103117105 filed on May15, 2014, the entire contents of which are incorporated by referenceherein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to tri-axis anti-shake structures, andmore particularly, to a tri-axis anti-shake structure for use with apicture-taking module.

Description of the Prior Art

In recent years, camera devices are becoming popular. Users takingpictures with a picture-taking device seldom have the picture-takingdevice held by a highly stable tripod. In dim circumstances where safetyshutter is unavailable, the users tend to press a shutter shakily, andin consequence pictures thus taken look blurry.

Conventional anti-shake techniques include electronic compensationtechnique and optical compensation technique. The electroniccompensation technique involves controlling the capturing of images withan electronic system of a picture-taking device, involves restoringimages with an algorithm, and involves taking a plurality of imagessuccessively before selecting the sharpest one from the plurality ofimages successively taken. The optical compensation technique involvesattaining compensation according to the displacement of an optical lensmodule or a photosensitive module so as to offset the impact of thevibration of the camera and maintain the stability of the opticalsystem.

The trend toward increasingly compact and lightweight cameras poses aproblem—if a built-in anti-shake system uses a flexible board toeffectuate component and signal electrical connection, there will begreat difficulty in assembling the anti-shake system with a conventionalproduction line. Hence, it is imperative to provide a simple way ofassembling an anti-shake system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art, it is an objectiveof the present invention to provide an anti-shake structure and moreparticularly provide a tri-axis closed-loop anti-shake structure basedon a Molded Interconnect Device. For one skilled in the art, MoldedInterconnect Devices (MID) refer to Molded components with an electricalcircuit directly formed on 3D surfaces (e.g., “MIPTEC” and “LDS” MIDtechnologies).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a lens drivingdevice comprises: a lens holder including a coil; a frame for receivingthe lens holder; a driving circuit board disposed below the frame; aplurality of first conductive elastic bodies disposed in a manner tokeep the lens holder moving in a Z-axis direction; and a plurality ofsecond conductive elastic bodies disposed in a manner to keep the framemoving in a direction perpendicular to the Z-axis direction,characterized in that: the lens driving device further comprises aplurality of electrical contact-oriented Z-axis position sensor, whereinthe Z-axis position sensor senses a motion of the lens holder in theZ-axis direction, wherein an electronic circuit between a portion of theplurality of electrical contacts and the coil of the lens holdercomprises a Molded Interconnect Device and a portion of the firstconductive elastic bodies, with the Molded Interconnect Device disposedon the frame.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, anelectronic circuit between another portion of the plurality ofelectrical contacts and the driving circuit board comprises the MoldedInterconnect Device and the second conductive elastic bodies.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, thefirst conductive elastic bodies are each an upper plate spring.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, thesecond conductive elastic bodies are each a sling.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, theZ-axis position sensor is disposed on the frame, and the electricalcontacts are electrically directly connected to the Molded InterconnectDevice.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, theZ-axis position sensor is disposed on a flexible circuit board, and theelectrical contacts are electrically connected to the MoldedInterconnect Device through the flexible circuit board.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, theflexible circuit board is disposed on the frame.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, theplurality of second conductive elastic bodies are electrically connectedto the Molded Interconnect Device, characterized in that: the lensdriving device electrically drives the Z-axis position sensor with theplurality of second conductive elastic bodies and the MoldedInterconnect Device; and the lens driving device obtains signals sensedby the Z-axis position sensor with the plurality of second conductiveelastic bodies and the Molded Interconnect Device.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, theMolded Interconnect Device comprises a plurality of conducting wireselectrically connected to the first conductive elastic bodies or thesecond conductive elastic bodies, respectively.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, theMolded Interconnect Device comprises conducting wires with a 3Dframework.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a lens drivingdevice comprises: a lens holder including a coil; a frame for receivingthe lens holder; a driving circuit board disposed below the frame; aplurality of first conductive elastic bodies disposed in a manner tokeep the lens holder moving in a Z-axis direction; and a plurality ofsecond conductive elastic bodies disposed in a manner to keep the framemoving in a direction perpendicular to the Z-axis direction,characterized in that: the lens driving device further comprises aplurality of electrical contact-oriented Z-axis position sensor, whereinthe Z-axis position sensor senses a motion of the lens holder in theZ-axis direction, wherein an electronic circuit between a portion ofelectrical contacts and the driving circuit board comprises a MoldedInterconnect Device, the first conductive elastic bodies, and the secondconductive elastic bodies, with the Molded Interconnect Device disposedon the lens holder.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, anotherportion of electrical contacts are electrically connected to the coil ofthe lens holder.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, thefirst conductive elastic bodies are each an upper plate spring.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, thesecond conductive elastic bodies are each a sling.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, theZ-axis position sensor is disposed on the lens holder, and theelectrical contacts are electrically directly connected to the MoldedInterconnect Device.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, theZ-axis position sensor is disposed on a flexible circuit board, and theelectrical contacts are electrically connected to the MoldedInterconnect Device through the flexible circuit board.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, theflexible circuit board is disposed on the lens holder.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, theplurality of second conductive elastic bodies are electrically connectedto the Molded Interconnect Device, characterized in that: the lensdriving device electrically drives the Z-axis position sensor with theplurality of second conductive elastic bodies and the MoldedInterconnect Device; and the lens driving device obtains signals sensedby the Z-axis position sensor with the plurality of second conductiveelastic bodies and the Molded Interconnect Device.

According to the aforesaid embodiment of the present invention, theMolded Interconnect Device comprises a plurality of conducting wireselectrically connected to the first conductive elastic bodies,respectively.

According to the aforesaid embodiments of the present invention, theMolded Interconnect Device comprises conducting wires with a 3Dframework.

After studying non-restrictive specific embodiments and drawings of thepresent invention, persons skilled in the art can gain insight into theaforesaid and other aspects of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a tri-axis anti-shake structure accordingto the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a frame according to the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tri-axis anti-shake structure;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a tri-axis anti-shake structure accordingto the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a lens holder according to the secondembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the tri-axis anti-shake structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

To facilitate the comprehension of the technical features, contents,advantages, and achievable effects of the present invention, the presentinvention is illustrated with drawings and embodiments and describedbelow. The drawings, which serve exemplary and supplementary purposes,are not necessarily drawn to scale; hence, the drawings are illustrativerather than restrictive of the claims of the present invention.

Specific embodiments of the present invention are hereunder illustratedwith drawings. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.Conventional components are omitted from the some of the drawings forthe sake of brevity.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an exploded view of a tri-axisanti-shake structure according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention. In the first embodiment of the present invention, thetri-axis anti-shake structure comprises an external frame 10, an opticalautofocus module 20, an image anti-shake module 30, and an image sensingcomponent. The optical autofocus module 20, the image anti-shake module30, and the image sensing component are aligned in a light axisdirection.

The optical autofocus module 20 carries a lens 11 and performs autofocusin the light axis direction (z-axis) to focus an image on the imagesensing component. The image anti-shake module 30 performs imagecorrection in a direction perpendicular to the light axis direction(x-axis or y-axis).

After the image anti-shake module 30 has used X-axis, Y-axisdisplacement sensors to sense displacement shifts along X-axis andY-axis, respectively, a driving circuit board 47 is informed of thedisplacement shifts and then electrically drives an X-axis driving coil325 and a Y-axis driving coil 326 to produce an electromagnetic field soas to drive X-axis, Y-axis magnets 311 to undergo X-axis movement andY-axis movement and thus correct X-axis, Y-axis instantaneous shiftpositions of the optical autofocus module 20, thereby effectuatingX-axis, Y-axis closed-loop anti-shake control (see Taiwan Patent1414816).

To enable the optical autofocus module 20 to perform autofocus, a Z-axisposition sensor 42 disposed on a circuit board 43 operates inconjunction with a Hall sensor magnet 41 to sense a change in themagnetic field and thus measure a change in the Z-axis position of thelens. The Z-axis position sensor 42 sends at least a drivingcompensation signal to a Molded Interconnect Device 49 of a frame 44through the circuit board 43. In this embodiment, the circuit board 43is disposed on the frame 44, and the Hall sensor magnet 41 is disposedon a lens holder 21. However, in the spirit able to complete thecreation of the present invention, the circuit board 43 and the Hallsensing magnet 41 is not limited to this configuration, for example, thecircuit board 43 disposed on the lens holder 21, and the Hall sensingmagnet 41 disposed on the frame 44.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a perspective view of the frame 44.As shown in the diagram, the Z-axis position sensor 42 has a pluralityof electrical contacts. A plurality of electrical signals are sent fromthe plurality of electrical contacts through the circuit board 43 andthe Molded Interconnect Device 49. The Molded Interconnect Device 49comprises conducting wires with a 3D framework. The 3D framework of theMolded Interconnect Device 49 is disposed on the surface of the frame44. The two ends of each conducting wire are in electrical contact withthe circuit board 43 and a first elastic conductive body 45,respectively, to form a signal transmission path. In an embodiment, thecircuit board 43 is a flexible circuit board. In another embodiment, theZ-axis position sensor 42 is electrically connected directly to theMolded Interconnect Device 49. The Z-axis position sensor 42 ispreferably a magnetic encoder or an optical encoder.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, there is shown in FIG. 3 a perspectiveview of the tri-axis anti-shake structure. The plurality of electricalsignals are electrically connected through the conducting wires of theMolded Interconnect Device 49 to the first conductive elastic bodies 45fixed to the frame 44, respectively. The first conductive elastic bodies45 each forms an upper plate spring on the frame 44 and are disposed ina manner that the lens holder 21 received in the frame 44 is kept movingin the light axis direction. The plurality of electrical signals of theZ-axis position sensor 42 are electrically transmitted to contactselectrically separated from each other and corresponding in position tothe first conductive elastic bodies 45 through the conducting wires ofthe Molded Interconnect Device 49, respectively. A portion of theplurality of electrical signals are electrically connected through aportion of the Molded Interconnect Device 49 and the first conductiveelastic bodies 45 to a Z-axis driving electromagnetic component 22disposed at the lens holder 21. The Z-axis driving electromagneticcomponent 22 is preferably a coil. The Z-axis driving electromagneticcomponent 22 is driven to compensate for the shift along Z-axis. Anotherportion of the electrical signals of the Z-axis position sensor 42 areelectrically transmitted through the another portion of the MoldedInterconnect Device 49 and the other first conductive elastic bodies 45to a second conductive elastic body 46 fixed to the frame 44 andelectrically transmitted through the second conductive elastic body 46to a driving circuit board 47 disposed below the frame 44. The upperplate springs formed from the first conductive elastic bodies 45 keepthe lens holder 21 moving in Z-axis direction. The second conductiveelastic bodies 46 keep the frame 44 moving on a plane (defined by X-axisand Y-axis) perpendicular to Z-axis direction. In an embodiment, thesecond conductive elastic bodies 46 are each a sling. In anotherembodiment, the Z-axis position sensor 42 does not require the circuitboard 43 but is directly mounted on the frame 44 and thus electricallyconnected to the Molded Interconnect Device 49; hence, not only is thecircuit board 43 not required, but the assembly process is renderedsimple.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown an exploded view of a tri-axisanti-shake structure according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention.

In the second embodiment of the present invention, the tri-axisanti-shake structure comprises an external frame 10, an opticalautofocus module 20, an image anti-shake module 30, and an image sensingcomponent. The optical autofocus module 20, the image anti-shake module30, and the image sensing component are aligned in a light axisdirection.

The optical autofocus module 20 carries a lens 11 and performs autofocusin the light axis direction (z-axis) to focus an image on the imagesensing component. The image anti-shake module 30 performs imagecorrection in a direction perpendicular to the light axis direction(x-axis or y-axis).

After the image anti-shake module 30 has used X-axis, Y-axisdisplacement sensors to sense X-axis, Y-axis displacement shifts, thedriving circuit board 47 is informed of the displacement shifts andelectrically drives an X-axis driving coil 325 and a Y-axis driving coil326 to produce an electromagnetic field so as to drive X-axis, Y-axismagnets 311 to undergo X-axis movement and Y-axis movement and thuscorrect X-axis, Y-axis instantaneous shift positions of the opticalautofocus module 20, thereby effectuating X-axis, Y-axis closed-loopanti-shake control.

To enable the optical autofocus module 20 to perform autofocus, a Z-axisposition sensor 42 disposed on a circuit board 43 operates inconjunction with a Hall sensor magnet 41 to measure a change in theZ-axis position of the lens by sensing a change in the magnetic field,so as to generate a Z-axis position sensing signal, wherein the Z-axisposition sensor 42 is a magnetic encoder or an optical encoder in anembodiment. The Z-axis position sensor 42 sends at least a drivingcompensation signal to a Molded Interconnect Device 49 of the lensholder 21 through the circuit board 43. In this embodiment, the circuitboard 43 is disposed on the lens holder 21, and the Hall sensor magnet41 is disposed on the frame 44.

Referring to FIG. 5, the circuit board 43 is located at a predeterminedpoint of the lens holder 21 and electrically coupled to the MoldedInterconnect Device 49 on the lens holder 21. The Molded InterconnectDevice 49 comprises conducting wires with a 3D framework. The 3Dframework of the Molded Interconnect Device 49 is disposed on thesurface of the lens holder 21. The two ends of each conducting wire arein electrical contact with the circuit board 43 and a corresponding oneof the first conductive elastic bodies 45, respectively, to form asignal transmission path. In an embodiment, the circuit board 43 is aflexible circuit board. In another embodiment, the Z-axis positionsensor 42 does not require the circuit board 43 but is electricallycoupled to the Molded Interconnect Device 49 on the lens holder 21;hence, not only is the circuit board 43 not required, but the assemblyprocess is rendered simple.

Referring to FIG. 6, a plurality of electrical signals of the Z-axisposition sensor 42 are electrically connected. For instance, a portionof the plurality of electrical signals of the Z-axis position sensingsignals are electrically connected through a plurality of conductingwires of the Molded Interconnect Device 49 to a plurality of firstconductive elastic bodies 45 disposed between the lens holder 21 andframe 44. The first conductive elastic bodies 45 are electricallycoupled to the second conductive elastic bodies 46, respectively, suchthat the plurality of electrical signals are electrically transmitted toa driving circuit board 47 through the second conductive elastic bodies46. The second conductive elastic bodies 46 on the electrical path aredisposed between the driving circuit board 47 and the first conductiveelastic bodies 45. Another portion of the plurality of electricalsignals of the Z-axis position sensor 42 are electrically connected to aZ-axis driving electromagnetic component 22. The Z-axis drivingelectromagnetic component 22 is preferably a coil. The Z-axis drivingelectromagnetic component 22 is driven to compensate for the shift alongZ-axis. The upper plate springs formed from the first conductive elasticbodies 45 and disposed on the frame 44 keep the lens holder 21 moving inZ-axis direction. The second conductive elastic bodies 46 keep the frame44 moving on a plane (defined by X-axis and Y-axis) perpendicular toZ-axis direction. In an embodiment, the second conductive elastic bodies46 are each a sling.

In conclusion, the present invention provides a tri-axis closed-loopanti-shake structure operating in a bi-axis manner, that is, alongX-axis and Y-axis, and further equipped with a Molded InterconnectDevice to operate along Z-axis, so as to effectuate anti-shakecompensation in three axial directions. Furthermore, the presentinvention is characterized in that: the Molded Interconnect Deviceeffectuates partial electrical connection structurally to replaceconventional flexible boards adapted for signal electrical connectionand thus enable a production line to not only assemble an anti-shakesystem easily but also cut the costs of flexible boards.

A tri-axis closed-loop anti-shake structure according to preferredembodiments of the present invention is described above and illustratedwith drawings. All the technical features disclosed herein can integratewith the other methods. Each of the technical features disclosed hereincan be selectively replaced with an identical, equivalent, or similartarget feature; hence, barring conspicuous features, all the technicalfeatures disclosed herein merely serve to exemplify equivalent orsimilar features. After studying the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, persons skilled in the art understand that thepresent invention relates to an invention which has novelty,non-obviousness, and high industrial applicability and thus is worthy ofdevelopment. The present invention can be modified in various ways bypersons skilled in the art and still fall within the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lens driving device, comprising: a lens holderfor carrying a lens; a frame for receiving the lens holder; a firstdriving component for driving the lens holder to move along a firstdirection in respect to the frame; a base moveably connected to theframe; a second driving component for driving the frame to move along asecond direction in respect to the base, and a position sensor disposedon the frame for sensing a change in a position of the lens holder alongthe first direction in respect to the frame, wherein the first directionis not parallel to the second direction, and the first direction isparallel to an optical axis of the lens.
 2. The lens driving device ofclaim 1, further comprising a circuit disposed on the frame andelectrically connected to the position sensor.
 3. The lens drivingdevice of claim 2, wherein the circuit comprises a 3-D circuit and the3-D circuit is disposed on different surfaces.
 4. The lens drivingdevice of claim 2, wherein the position sensor is electrically connectedto the second driving component through the circuit, a first elasticbody and a second elastic body.